August 24, 2006

Servers: Slow Growth and Linux

If your business has more than one computer a server is vital to its existence. You must have a central place to store files and if you don't outsource your email services then you also need an email server.

IDC reports that server growth is slow and that Linux has a 12 percent market share of the server market. What does this mean for you?

Frankly, the stats really don't mean much for your business. However, it's good to know what's going on in the server (and desktop and notebook) markets. Don't ignore the health of your server, make sure there's plenty of hard disk space and that it's fast enough to serve your needs. If it needs to be replaced carefully plan when and how you'll do this.

Cnet writes IBM remained at the top of the heap with $3.8 billion in revenue. That's 31 percent of the whole market, but down slightly from the same quarter a year before. Hewlett-Packard was number two with $3.4 billion, also slightly down.

If you are one of the many businesses who do NOT have a server, immediately talk to your local solution provider about getting one. You can get a server from any PC vendor (Dell, HP, Gateway, Lenovo, etc) and install Microsoft Small Business Server, Novell's server for small businesses or Nitix on it. There's many appliances such as that from File Engine that you could also consider.

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